Defendant who made phone calls threatening Elk Grove Police, City Council to appear in court

Threatened harm during Elk Grove City Council meeting

On Monday, March 13, at 8:30 a.m., Department 63 of the Sacramento Superior Court will convene. Located on the ground floor of the Sacramento County Jail, Department 63 is where recently arrested suspects are arraigned, and inmates make necessary appearances.

One of the inmates scheduled to appear on the 8:30 docket is John Paul Listey, 44, of Elk Grove, currently an inmate at the county jail. Mr. Litsey is held on a remand arrest for Penal Code 422, threats to commit a crime resulting in death or great bodily injury.

Additionally, Litey is held on remand for a misdemeanor Penal Code 653X for making calls to 911 emergency with intent to annoy or harass. Litsey is not eligible for bail.

While Litsey’s case might be otherwise unremarkable, the events that led to Monday’s appearance are noteworthy. Last year Mr. Litsey made threats to Elk Grove’s police department and disruption of an Elk Grove City Council meeting.

According to documents filed by the city of Elk Grove, On April 12, 2022, Litsey called 911, making threats against the police department. He also threatened to disrupt the city council meeting.

The document says Litsey said, “I’m going to shoot you Elk Grove Police Department, I want all my money back, I am going to shoot all of you at the town hall meeting, and I hope you all go fuck yourself.”

Police Chief Bobby Davis, city staff, the public, and the city council would attend the regularly scheduled April 13 city council meeting.

The document also said Litsey called Apple support services, threatening to shoot employees at the company’s Elk Grove facility. Apple contacted Elk Grove Police and provided a seven-minute recording of the threats.

Litsey reportedly told Apple, “I literally want to kill people … as soon as I get a gun, I’m going on a killing spree.” An Apple employee asked Litsey if he was alright, to which he responded, “not unless [the EGPD] come to my house again, and then I’ll blow them away.”

Elk Grove Police arrested the suspect and contacted an on-call Sacramento Superior Court judge who granted a bail enhancement making him ineligible for release. In early March 2022, Litsey was arrested on misdemeanor charges and released after allegedly making 46 threatening calls to 911. Litsey made 157 threatening or harassing calls to the police department.

Listey’s Department 63 appearance tomorrow is for these two arrests. Following these events, Elk Grove sought and was granted a restraining order on Litsey.

Court records also show Litsey failed to dismiss his court-appointed attorney in a so-called Marsden motion. The records also indicate Litsey was remanded to an unnamed State of California mental health facility.

Litsey was released from the mental health facility and is awaiting his Monday morning appearance in the county jail court facility. Nothing in the public documents indicates Litsey had been in possession of firearms.